At an apparent visual magnitude of 3.16,[2] it is readily visible to the naked eye and is the brightest star in the lion's hide (or shield) that Orion is holding.

Ulugh Beg called them Al Dhawāib, "Anything Pendent"; and the Borgian globe had the same, perhaps originated it.

Al Sufi's title was Manica, a Latin term for a protecting Gauntlet; and Grotius gave a lengthy dissertation on the Mantile, which some anonymous person applied to them, figured as a cloth thrown over the Giant's arm.

Although a periodicity of 73.26 days has been observed in the star's radial velocity, it seems likely to be bound more to stellar activity than to a planetary object in close orbit.

Thus, so far it appears that planets could easily orbit in the habitable zone without any complications caused by a gravitationally perturbing body.